"Flying Squirrel" Gabby Douglas soars in London

George Johnson, Postmedia Olympic Team08.01.2012

Gabrielle Douglas of the United States competes on the balance beam in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Individual All-Around final on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at North Greenwich Arena on August 2, 2012 in London, England.

LONDON ­— Across America today, Gabby Douglas is the mostfamous “Flying Squirrel” since Rocky. And that’s no bull-winkle.

She has graced the cover of Time magazine, she has herown line of stuff called Gabby Gear (T-shirts, posters, postcards) for sale onher website. And now she’s the Olympic all-around champion.

At 16.

“It feels amazing to be called that. Olympic champion.Going through the hard and rough days in the gym pays off,” she said at hercoronation media conference at the North Greenwich Arena.” Sacrifices are notin vain. Chow [coach, Liang Chow] kept telling me ‘Push in the gym and theOlympics are going to be so easy. Just cruisin’ along.’”

And so she did, although the final moments of Thursday’sfinal were excruciatingly tense, as everyone in the building hung on theupcoming score for Russian Victoria Komova’s floor routine, which would decidegold and silver. Douglas stood motionless. Komova fidgeted at the centre of thearena, eyes riveted to the scoreboard, her folded hands at her mouth in a kindof silent prayer.

When a 15.100 flashed, the new champion — nicknamed “TheFlying Squirrel” by U.S. National Team co-odinator Martha Karolyi for heraerial performance on the uneven bars — exulted. Komova, sagging, burst intotears. She leaned on her teammate Aliya Mustafina, who won bronze, forconsolation as they left the floor.

“And I was cruisin’.’’’

Canada’s Dominique Pegg finished 18th.

Douglas had the 24-woman field chasing her from theget-go, and under the most potentially crushing of situations laid down asuperb, champagne-fizz of a floor routine in the final rotation that had thecrowd clapping merrily and clambering to its feet at its conclusion. Douglasflashed that trademark high-beam smile of hers. And the score, a 15.033, reallyheaped the weight of the world on Komova’s shoulders.

Still, the Russian, on the floor last, very nearly pulledit off.

“I just wanted to go out on floor, do the best routine Icould and show it off,’’ said Douglas. “Because it’s over, it’s done. I justwanted to seize the moment.’’

Seize it all she did, around the neck before squeeeeezingfor dear life. As cool a 16-year-old as can be found, she did admit to beingovercome by a bout of scoreboard-watching.

“I sorta was. I just took a quick peek,’’ Douglas confessed,giggling like the teenager she is. “Chow was telling me to focus. But I wantedto ...”

“She broke the rules,’’ cut in her coach, breaking upDouglas and the assembled media.

Asked exactly when she took a furtive glance upwards,there was a sheepish grin by way of answer.

“I looked up after the vault. And bars. And beam andfloor.’’ Chow, sitting beside his charge at the podium, shook his head in mocksorrow. “Sorry ...,’’ Douglas protested. “I just HAD to see.’’

By the finish, Komova could barely stand to watch.

“I am proud but I’m disappointed, too,’’ she confessed.“I wanted the gold. It didn’t happen. She’s a strong athlete and she performedbeautifully today. I believe she earned her gold medal.’’

Echoed Mustafina: “She didn’t make a single mistake.’’

That excellence, the ability to channel energy andemotion and confidence, has Douglas on top of the world at the moment. Andquite likely for the foreseeable future.

“It all pays off,’’ she said. “Chow just tells me to goout there and perform the routine. Like in the gym. In practice. I took thatin. I believed in myself. In my younger days, I used to get so nervous. Ialways used to doubt myself, ‘okay, so what if I fall in this?’ And Chow’s justlike ‘Give it your all. Give it your best.’ That’s all I can do. It’sdefinitely easier like that.’’

With that Ultra-Brite smile, the bounce, that sublimefluidity, Gabby Douglas seems to be what people call “a natural”; and, in asense, she is. But there’s always more, much more, than that involved in settingthe special ones apart, particularly at an Olympic level.

“Today’s victory,’’ said Chow, “is the result of many,many hours of hard work.

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